China News Service, April 14, Li Kuiwen, spokesperson of the General Administration of Customs and director of the Statistics and Analysis Department, said on the 14th that according to customs statistics, the total value of China ’s imports and exports in the first quarter was 6.57 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.4% from the same period last year. . Among them, exports were 3.33 trillion yuan, down 11.4%; imports were 3.24 trillion yuan, down 0.7%; trade surplus was 98.33 billion yuan, down 80.6%.
On the 14th, the State Council Office held a press conference on the import and export situation in the first quarter of 2020. Li Kuiwen introduced the relevant situation at the meeting. He pointed out that in the first quarter of this year, in the face of the sudden new coronary pneumonia epidemic, China coordinated the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, and further consolidated the effectiveness of prevention and control. The measures to stabilize foreign trade continued to advance, and foreign trade enterprises made important progress in resuming production.
According to Li Kuiwen, according to customs statistics, the total value of China's imports and exports of goods in the first quarter was 6.57 trillion yuan, a decrease of 6.4% from the same period last year. Among them, exports were 3.33 trillion yuan, down 11.4%; imports were 3.24 trillion yuan, down 0.7%; trade surplus was 98.33 billion yuan, down 80.6%. Specifically, it has the following six characteristics:
First, imports and exports rebounded in March. In March of this year, China's foreign trade imports and exports reached 2.45 trillion yuan, a decrease of 0.8% year-on-year, and the decline was narrowed by 8.7 percentage points from January to February. Among them, exports were 1.29 trillion yuan, down 3.5%; imports were 1.16 trillion yuan, up 2.4%.
Second, ASEAN surpassed the EU to become China's largest trading partner. In the first quarter, China ’s imports and exports to ASEAN reached 99.134 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1%, accounting for 15.1% of China ’s total foreign trade value. ASEAN became China ’s largest trading partner; 668.01 billion yuan, down 18.3%; imports and exports to Japan were 465.68 billion yuan, down 8.1%. In addition, China ’s imports and exports to countries along the “Belt and Road” reached 2.07 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.2%, 9.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate.
Thirdly, the import and export of private enterprises have decreased by a small margin and the proportion has increased. In the first quarter, the import and export of private enterprises was 2.78 trillion yuan, a decrease of 2%, accounting for 42.4% of China's total foreign trade value, an increase of 1.9 percentage points over the same period last year. Among them, exports were 1.71 trillion yuan, down 7.3%, accounting for 51.4% of total exports; imports were 1.07 trillion yuan, up 7.9%, accounting for 33.1% of total imports. Imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises amounted to 2.6 trillion yuan, accounting for 39.6% of China's total foreign trade value. The import and export of state-owned enterprises was 1.16 trillion yuan, accounting for 17.7%.
Fourth, the proportion of general trade import and export reached 60%. In the first quarter, China's general trade imports and exports were 3.94 trillion yuan, down 5.7%, accounting for 60% of China's total foreign trade. Among them, exports were 1.95 trillion yuan, down 11.3%; imports were 1.99 trillion yuan, up 0.5%. The import and export of processing trade was 1.56 trillion yuan, down 12.4%, accounting for 23.8%.
Fifth, electromechanical products and labor-intensive products are the main export commodities. In the first quarter, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products were 1.95 trillion yuan, down 11.5%, accounting for 58.5% of the total export value. In the same period, exports of 7 major categories of labor-intensive products, such as textiles and clothing, amounted to 596.98 billion yuan, down 15.3%, accounting for 17.9%.
Sixth, imports of commodities such as iron ore, crude oil, coal, and key consumer goods such as meat increased rapidly. In the first quarter, China imported 260 million tons of iron ore sand, an increase of 1.3%; imported crude oil of 130 million tons, an increase of 5%; imported coal of 95.778 million tons, an increase of 28.4%; imported natural gas of 24.656 million tons, an increase of 1.8%. In addition, imported soybeans were 17.792 million tons, an increase of 6.2%; imported pork was 951,000 tons, an increase of 1.7 times; imported beef was 513,000 tons, an increase of 64.9%. Affected by the epidemic, China imported 61.91 billion yuan of medical materials and drugs, an increase of 14.8%.
Li Kuiwen said that the current international epidemic situation continues to spread, the downside risks of the world economy are increasing, uncertainties and instability factors have increased significantly, and China's foreign trade imports and exports are facing more difficulties. Customs will deeply implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on coordinating the promotion of epidemic prevention and control and economic and social development, make unremitting efforts to carry out port epidemic prevention and control, continue to optimize the port business environment, support enterprises to develop international markets, and strive Stabilize China's basic foreign trade, promote a higher level of opening to the outside world, and make due contributions to the customs for the realization of the economic and social development goals of the year.